Typing Training

This page contains tips and tricks for training your typing skills, and links to other sites and programs including the amazing Amphetype. Whether you're new to the layout and just want to learn it properly to get by with less confusion, or an advanced speed monster who wants to make that next Personal Best, there should be something useful for you here. Let's start off with some words from the wise before delving into my tools and tricks:

TOP TYPIST TRAINING TIPS

• Good training should be varied! Don't wear yourself out by banging your head against a hurdle until you're exhausted, but keep chipping away at it now and then.
• Remember to take breaks and do stretching and loosening exercises for your arms and wrists. Circulation is important, and you do not want RSI!
• Many shorter bouts in a day beats a few long ones. Sleep can also be remarkably effective for processing your progress!
• Typing experts all seem to value the ability to vary your speed. Type well-known words blazingly fast, and slow down a bit for hard ones to avoid mistakes. Mistakes will slow you down more than consciously slowing down will, once you get used to it!
• Focus on accuracy before raw speed. There may be exceptions and you shouldn't get too deliberate either, but in most cases "a little slower is eventually a lot faster". Try to keep at least above 96% accuracy when typing when you're learning, most will say above 98% later on.

Wise words from 200+ WPM typist Sophie at the Colemak Discord on how to progress past 100 WPM – useful for other speeds too:

Sophie's tips are in accord with what other expert typists have said. But with the added advice of being water!   _/|\_

If you want to try your hand at word bursting, Burst-Type is a neat way to train common words. Eventually it'll be more about read-ahead and flow, which you can improve using other training tools.

For a list of other recommended typing guides, look near the end of this page.

OTHER TIPS

Take the Control Back!

Whether training or just typing normally, I try to make a point of deleting the whole word if I make a mistake.

This is sometimes faster, more precise and more comfortable than mashing the Back key, but more importantly it lets you type the word correctly before proceeding. That may help in the long run: When practising a music instrument for instance, I try to focus on doing it right so I don't ingrain any mistakes into my muscle memory and so I can learn in flow. I believe that typing is similar in this respect.

Extend helps me do this quite easily (Ext+T+O produces Ctrl+Back). A tap sequence may be even better (e.g., thumb key then an accessible letter).

Get comfy!

You may have started using the Colemak layout because you heard that it's more ergonomic and comfortable? Congratulations on that choice then. But there are many other factors to consider and they don't only affect your wellbeing but your health and probably even your typing speed! So don't ignore ergonomics but learn and implement things that are good for you in all aspects of life, your typing included.

I will simply hand the mic over to Xayvier alias Viper, who quit speedtyping shortly after becoming the world's fastest Colemak typist because of bad hand pains, but is back now and still blindingly fast. Do check out Viper's Ergonomics Guide! You may also want to check out the top sections of the Ergonomy page.

As we Colemak users like to say: Your hands will thank you!

Alternate fingerings

Alt-fingering means not using the default finger allocation for a key. It can be a weird habit, but it can also be a useful tool to avoid same-finger and other bad bigrams: Instead of hitting two following keys with the same finger which is stressful, you use different fingers even though both keys "belong to" the same finger.

At some point in learning a layout, you'll start to notice some bigrams being less than optimal. One of the selling points for Colemak is that it allows you to use standard touch typing technique without having to devise a lot of "homebrew" alt-fingering tricks to get fast. The fastest QWERTY typists typically use a whole lot of alt-fingering. However, any layout may at some point benefit from a little alt-fingering.

Some of the same-finger bigrams on the Colemak layout aren't all that uncommon, even though it's been designed to have a low SFB frequency:

Yes – SC/CS is a same-finger bigram on Colemak. If you've got CT/TC instead, you're using an "Angle Cheat" technique for which Colemak wasn't designed. I'd strongly advise you to use a proper Angle mod instead, since the CT/TC bigram is at least twice as common than SC/CS and so you'll compromise the excellent design of Colemak by cheating.

Slide your hand in so that the middle finger types N for KN/NK and MN/NM bigrams. This holds true whether you use Colemak Vanilla or DH. I'd even alt-finger KNE in 'knew' before returning to home position, after a while it becomes second-nature. It's not so easy for, say, LN/NL or UE/EU so you'll still have to do those the hard way. I often find downward curling bigrams like UE a bit easier than the upwards ones.

Alt-fingering is useful once you reach a certain level of dedication and skill. I wouldn't quite recommend it while starting up with a new layout, as it may confuse the newcomer trying to build muscle memory for the simple things. Gaining at least 50 WPM before starting with alt-fingering has been recommended. But several speed typists use it to good effect. I usually alt-finger KN/NK, LK/KL, and often MN/NM, TG/GT, BG/GB and TV/VT now (on Colemak-DH), by sliding in with the middle finger as described above. These all come naturally after a while due to their symmetry, but it's only KN/NK and probably LK/KL that are so common as to really need it.

TRAINING WITH AMPHETYPE

Amphetype is a brilliant cross-platform typing trainer program written by Frank S. Hestvik, that has recently had a "revival release" with a platform update and some extra features. It'll be exciting to see its further development!

Amphetype can be used for leisurely typing texts or for intensive focused training sessions, as you like. It's flexible and informative despite being a one-man project – and it's free. I keep its database in my Dropbox so I can use it from anywhere while keeping track of my texts and progress.

There's an older version that I've used for years:

• Correct   text – #000000 (RGB   0,  0,  0)
• Correct   back – #eeeeee (RGB 238,238,238)
• Incorrect text – #660000 (RGB 102,  0,  0)
• Incorrect back – #aaaaaa (RGB 170,170,170)
        

When opening Amphetype in Windows, I usually press Alt+Space then X to maximize its window – or if you wish, use the mouse like a big muggle.
  ( Θώθ) c[_]

Amphetype's Performance tab, not sugar-coating my lack of progress.     ᏊᵕꈊᵕᏊ

TYPE-READING

I usually get a book as a text file from Project Gutenberg or similar, and put it into Amphetype. Experiment a little with how large text chunks you want to use; I use somewhere between 300 and 900 characters. This is brilliant for getting a lot of typing mileage. I've "read" Machiavelli that way, as well as Alice Through The Looking Glass, some Lovecraft and a 19th century book of questionable moral value!

For racking up mileage by type-reading books, I recommend not using too strict parameters so you won't have to type the same page again very often. Your average speed -10 WPM and 97% accuracy is a good starting point. You set the limits on the Sources tab, while selecting what text/lesson to type next. I turn off the need to press SPACE before each lesson, so I can type fluently. The timer doesn't start until you start typing a page, so take your time before diving in if you want to.

Further inspiration: Maybe you want to learn lyrics or poems by heart? Of course, type-reading isn't the optimal way of enjoying poetry but can be a hard-hitting combo if you want to repeat a verse many times anyway! Maybe Kipling's "If" will sort out both your wisdom and typing skills at the same time!? Or maybe something motivational is to your tastes? Feel free to use the song I made at the top of this post...     ￣(=⌒ᆺ⌒=)￣

Bewäre – of «ṡpéciãł çħâràcṭērṣ»: If your layout doesn't support special glyphs like accented letters, en/em dashes (–/—) and typographic quotes („” “” «» etc), make sure your text doesn't have them either. The book I'm currently typing about Greek and Roman mythology has some old-fashioned spellings like Æsculap and Aïdes. For my Colemak[eD] layers that's no problem at all, but beware if you aren't used to it. Here are some ways you can ensure you have a text you can type:

Type-reading alternatives exist; see the links section below. One neat offline alternative is CopyType, a dedicated e-book typer program.

Amphetype about to start a book text session (from Berens' Greek/Roman mythology)

FOCUSED LESSONS

Below is a brilliant post (with an edit or two by me) on generating Amphetype training lessons to focus on hard or common words. It's from a topic called Lessons For Colemak Beginners, in which there are lots of other lessons you can use as well:

the of to and a in is it you that he was for on are with as I his they be at one have this from or had by hot word but what some we can out other were all there when up use your how said an each she which do their time if will way about many then them write would like so these her long make thing see him two has look more day could go come did number sound no most people my over know water than call first who may down side been now find any new work part take get place made live where after back little only round man year came show every good me give our under name very through just form sentence great think say help low line differ turn cause much mean before move right boy old too same tell does set three want air well also play small end put home read hand port large spell add even land here must big high such follow act why ask men change went light kind off need house picture try us again animal point mother world near build self earth father head stand own page should country found answer school grow study still learn plant cover food sun four between state keep eye never last let thought city tree cross farm hard start might story saw far sea draw left late run don't while press close night real life few north open seem together next white children begin got walk example ease paper group always music those both mark often letter until mile river car feet care second book carry took science eat room friend began idea fish mountain stop once base hear horse cut sure watch color face wood main enough plain girl usual young ready above ever red list though feel talk bird soon body dog family direct pose leave song measure door product black short numeral class wind question happen complete ship area half rock order fire south problem piece told knew pass since top whole king space heard best hour better true . during hundred five remember step early hold west ground interest reach fast verb sing listen six table travel less morning ten simple several vowel toward war lay against pattern slow center love person money serve appear road map rain rule govern pull cold notice voice unit power town fine certain fly fall lead cry dark machine note wait plan figure star box noun field rest correct able pound done beauty drive stood contain front teach week final gave green oh quick develop ocean warm free minute strong special mind behind clear tail produce fact street inch multiply nothing course stay wheel full force blue object decide surface deep moon island foot system busy test record boat common gold possible plane stead dry wonder laugh thousand ago ran check game shape equate hot miss brought heat snow tire bring yes distant fill east paint language among grand ball yet wave drop heart am present heavy dance engine position arm wide sail material size vary settle speak weight general ice matter circle pair include divide syllable felt perhaps pick sudden count square reason length represent art subject region energy hunt probable bed brother egg ride cell believe fraction forest sit race window store summer train sleep prove lone leg exercise wall catch mount wish sky board joy winter sat written wild instrument kept glass grass cow job edge sign visit past soft fun bright gas weather month million bear finish happy hope flower clothe strange gone jump baby eight village meet root buy raise solve metal whether push seven paragraph third shall held hair describe cook floor either result burn hill safe cat century consider type law bit coast copy phrase silent tall sand soil roll temperature finger industry value fight lie beat excite natural view sense ear else quite broke case middle kill son lake moment scale loud spring observe child straight consonant nation dictionary milk speed method organ pay age section dress cloud surprise quiet stone tiny climb cool design poor lot experiment bottom key iron single stick flat twenty skin smile crease hole trade melody trip office receive row mouth exact symbol die least trouble shout except wrote seed tone join suggest clean break lady yard rise bad blow oil blood touch grew cent mix team wire cost lost brown wear garden equal sent choose fell fit flow fair bank collect save control decimal gentle woman captain practice separate difficult doctor please protect noon whose locate ring character insect caught period indicate radio spoke atom human history effect electric expect crop modern element hit student corner party supply bone rail imagine provide agree thus capital won't chair danger fruit rich thick soldier process operate guess necessary sharp wing create neighbor wash bat rather crowd corn compare poem string bell depend meat rub tube famous dollar stream fear sight thin triangle planet hurry chief colony clock mine tie enter major fresh search send yellow gun allow print dead spot desert suit current lift rose continue block chart hat sell success company subtract event particular deal swim term opposite wife shoe shoulder spread arrange camp invent cotton born determine quart nine truck noise level chance gather shop stretch throw shine property column molecule select wrong gray repeat require broad prepare salt nose plural anger claim continent oxygen sugar death pretty skill women season solution magnet silver thank branch match suffix especially fig afraid huge sister steel discuss forward similar guide experience score apple bought led pitch coat mass card band rope slip win dream evening condition feed tool total basic smell valley nor double seat arrive master track parent shore division sheet substance favor connect post spend chord fat glad original share station dad bread charge proper bar offer segment slave duck instant market degree populate chick dear enemy reply drink occur support speech nature range steam motion path liquid log meant quotient teeth shell neck
            

The Monkeytype site has separate word lists for English (the 200 most common words), English 1k and English 10k. The smallest list is good especially to start up with but I think you need to prepare for some less common words and word parts too so maybe English 1k is a more balanced alternative? Or use English 10k with the Zipf Funbox for realistic word frequencies. If you use a non-randomized list in Amphetype, you can choose whether to type out the whole list or start over after typing part of the list.

GFruit's Words Filter is a handy tool for generating more specific lists of words to train on. You start with an English word list of your chosen size and set which hand/fingers/rows to filter out words from. You can also set the desired word lengths, what letters and n-grams to include/exclude and even what kind of alternation you want to study. The resulting filtered word list can be pasted into MonkeyType, 10FastFingers or Amphetype to start training with it.

Monkeytype (see below) has a word filter built in too! So that may be the easiest way to train problematic letters and (n-grams). To use Monkeytype's word filter, select 'custom' and 'change' in the upper right corner, then activate the filter and you can select what you want to include and/or exclude from your training session.

Colemak R-S training: If you're new to the Colemak layout, you may find the R and S placements hard to get used to since S moves just one key over. Many do, don't worry. We've explained elsewhere why they have to be placed like that. To train actively for this issue, use the word filter to select words containing 'r s'.

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

Furthermore, you can let Amphetype generate a list of your "most damaging" (or slowest, most mistyped etc.) words or trigrams, and send them to the Lesson Generator! I recommend editing out rare words before making the lessons themselves so you don't risk training words like 'Cthulhu' and 'Shub-Niggurath' a lot, but otherwise this is very useful once you've racked up some mileage in your database.

Amphetype's Analysis tab, where you can make and export lists of words or trigrams that cause you trouble

After type-reading Berens' Graeco-Roman mythology book for a while, Amphetype suggested this amusing list of words for me; I just sorted it and added punctuation:

Really, that was my list of "most damaging" words – rearranged but complete. Heh! A truly divine typing task. (Θώθ )

Note that I find the implications of Amphetype's "viscosity" measure somewhat complex. Its author feels that metronomic typing is optimal if I understand him right, and this has indeed been an ideal in classic typing schools. Typing sites like Monkeytype also report consistency as a positive statistic; a high consistency corresponds to a low "viscosity" (the variance of time-per-keypress as I understand it). I think that high-alternation layouts like Dvorak promote a high pace consistency. On the other hand, we know that the best typists do speed up for familiar words and elements and brake down for the trickier ones. In the Colemak layout you can roll some word parts very fast. Ergo, the best typists in the world choose to have "bad consistency" to some extent?! Hmmm....! I still use the "most damaging" stat to select words, as it seems to be the most balanced measure.

I agree with Viper that what's actually important is a good typing flow, and that implies good consistency but with some flexibility too. The golden trifecta of typing is Speed, Accuracy and Flow.

If you want to see lesson statistics and not just book text statistics on the Amphetype Analysis tab, select "Save key/trigram/word statistics from generated lessons" on the Preferences tab.

User bph has tried starting with the 1000 most common words and after a few runs through them, generating a lesson of the 200 most damaging common words! That's clever, and will make you train only words that are both common and hard for you.

BIGRAM, TRIGRAM, N-GRAM... TRAINING

N-grams are letter sequences that constitute the building blocks of words and word parts, as it were: Common bigrams like TH HE IN EN NT, trigrams like THE AND THA ENT ING ION, tetragrams like THAT THER WITH TION HERE, pentagrams and so on occur frequently in many English words.

Some n-grams are easy on an optimized layout, while some will prove tricky even using the best of layouts. Training with a focus on common and damaging n-grams is therefore a good idea.

Youtuber Ben Vallack quite agrees with me on this and explains it very nicely, so if you're interested go ahead and watch him say this better than I could. 👍

Here are a couple of sample lists for focusing on n-grams. Feel free to add your favourites below!

io on ion tion ation etion ition otion ution ption nation station fruition gumption tuition completion attention assumption interruption
        

he the then them they there their they're theirs theme theory therein thermal thematic therefore theology theatrics themselves anathema
        

You can of course use the above mentioned lesson lists with other training tools such as Monkeytype or TypeFaster, if you like.

There's also a very nice n-gram trainer by RanelPadon (you can find him on the Colemak Discord): NGram-Type. Simple, neat and recommended.

Note that the YOU trigram isn't great on Colemak. There, I said it. It uses the pinky which is often untrained for people coming from the QWERTY layout, and it contains a redirect (back-and-forth motion). I'm used to it by now. But some users have even considered switching to yet another layout because of it. Keep in mind though, that while "you" is a common word on its own, most other n-grams are very nice with Colemak.

PANGRAM LEARNING/TRAINING

Pangrams are short phrases that contain all the letters of the alphabet. Speed typist Sophie at the Colemak Discord used the well-known one about the quick brown fox to learn Colemak! She just typed it over and over until she knew where all the keys are. It's not a bad way of learning a layout I think, as you can do it anywhere without other tools than a simple text box – or in Amphetype or Monkeytype (see below) if you wish.

At higher skill levels, it's probably best to switch your training to the most common words and n-grams as described above. But maybe it's beneficial for trained typists as well to drill the placement of the rarest letters too now and then, as those may trip you up more easily.

Sophie recommends using a pangram with mostly typical words. The "quick brown fox" one is a good example, as it uses the common word/trigram "the" twice and has no really weird words. Here are some fun pangram examples:

That last one is a phonemic pangram, containing the sounds in English rather than its letters. It lacks W and Z but those are the same in QWERTY and Colemak anyway. I think it's a cute spin on the first one!     (✿◠‿◠)

This isn't a pangram but close: It's the 160-letter phrase used by The Guinness World Records for their SMS speed record. Good practice for any keyboard type.

Here's an example of pangram training using Monkeytype, see below. I used the common "The quick brown fox..." phrase which comes up by default on the custom test, pressed "change" then "random" and a suitable word count. I'd use that until I felt ready to move on to the usual word list tests.

Monkeytype screenshot with custom word pangram training

STEPWISE LEARNING USING TARMAK (OR NOT)

Tarmak, as you may know, is a progression of four intermediate layouts forming stepping stones to the Colemak layout by only changing 3–4 keys at a time to ease the mental load. Many have used these Tarmak layouts to learn Colemak gradually, while others prefer to dive right in and learn Colemak hard core cold turkey.

But there is a middle ground! Bitesize learning may be a great idea for you, whether you elect to install a layout progression like Tarmak for it, or not. This also has the advantage of not displacing any keys while learning (Tarmak moves the J key around to allow splitting up the transition). However, unlike a real Tarmak progression it won't allow you to type normally while learning so it's learning by training, not by "just doing".

User colemux devised a clever way of sorting out words based on the Tarmak steps to train on. Doing this, you can have either full Colemak or the appropriate Tarmak# layout installed while training. In a way, it's learning with Tarmak without the need for installing Tarmak!

grep '^[enkgtfrsdjyop]*$' google-10000-english-sfw.txt | sed -r '/^.{,2}$/d' | grep 'j\|y\|o\|p' > train-tarmak4-len3-co.txt
        

grep '^[qwahzxcvbmenk]*$' google-10000-english-sfw.txt | sed -r '/^.{,1}$/d' | grep 'e\|n\|k' > train-tarmak1-len2-qwco.txt
        

But there are ready-made ways too: At the online learning page Colemak Camp (or its predecessor Colemak Club) you can select either Tarmak(-DH) or Colemak(-DH) as your layout to learn. The former gives you words to type based on the Tarmak steps as described above, while the latter is the more conventional learning approach starting with the home positions and adding rarer letters/positions as you rise through the levels. Choose which approach suits you best!

By the way: I found a little online tool for Tarmak learning/training while using a QWERTY layout. If you're interested, check out the Transition Colemak page. When I tested it though, it behaved erratically.

TRAINING WITH MONKEYTYPE

Monkeytype bears special mention. It's a smooth online trainer offering no-nonsense tests but also lots of possibilities and settings as desired. You can train words from different languages, interesting quotes and custom text. You can use tags to mark different test settings such as which Tarmak step you're on or whether it's afternoon. Monkeytype makes instructive graphs showing your speeds and mistakes through each test, and has become a natural favorite of the Colemak Discord.

There are several available language settings; press Esc then 'language' to see them. The default English word list consists of only the ≈200 most common words which I consider too little variation, so I've used English 1k instead.

But a great addition has arrived in the form of the Zipf funbox. This gives you the most frequent words more often, and rare words every now and then, at approximately realistic frequencies. I actually did the calculations for it, using the logarithmic Harmonic number approximation. So now I use the frequency-sorted English 10k list plus Zipf and it's very satisfying!

If you're curious about how Zipf's law looks in practice, there is a no-nonsense typer named Nonsense (yes, the irony of that sentence amuses me!) by Callum Oakley that predates the MonkeyType funbox by years. It uses a 10k English word list with Zipf's Law, but no punctuation. Have a look!

Another nifty tool is the word filter, as it helps you focus on any weak spots. See the Focused Lessons section above for instructions.

To make tests more realistic, I use the 'punctuation' setting which gives an authentic experience. A default test lasts 60 s, but for practice I prefer to chain two or more 30 s tests together instead. When you really want to set a new speed record for a Monkeytype Discord speed role or something, you may of course practice the short English word list without punctuation. In the long run though, that short list is silly, unrepresentative of real typing and frankly quite boring!

Some recommendations from 200+ WPM Colemak typist oats for a more serious training regime:

Here are some test and appearance settings I use and recommend:

Recommended Monkeytype settings:

Viper and I have designed a custom color theme with bright colors. Click this Share Custom Theme link to try it out.

We also recommend the following appearance settings for a clear, easily readable experience:

• Font size: 2–3 (biggest)
• Font family: Roboto Mono     ♪～└[∵┌]└[･▥･]┘[┐∵]┘～♪
• Page width: At least 150%

Monkeytype high-contrast color scheme by Viper and DreymaR

Other Monkeytype settings I found useful:

• Quick Tab mode lets you press Tab to start a new test quickly
• Always show words history and indicate typos lets you review what you did afterwards
• Min WPM: 60 or so, and Accuracy: 95 makes it more game-like and restarts the test for you if you have a bad start.
• Timer/progress: Show may be a bit redundant as you don't have much time for it? I use style/color/opacity = mini/sub/0.5 for subtletly.

To promote using Ctrl+Back to retype wrong words, Gary_Internet at the Colemak Discord uses this interesting setup:

• Expert difficulty fails the test if you press Space after a wrong word. It's a little too harsh for me though.
• Confidence mode: On is what I use instead. It prevents you from editing wrong words once committed.
• Highlight mode: Word shows the whole word as current or wrong! You have to decide how to edit a mistake.
• Quick end is necessary for the word mode to work well, if you want to use it.
• Caret style: Off means you can't see where in the current word you are typing. Again, too much for me.

Monkeytype using whole word selection. Delete only your error or the whole word? Do or do not.

• I found a background image inspired by the movie "The Matrix" that I feel suits this theme perfectly.
• To use it, point the 'custom background' URL to its address and hit the disk icon next to it.
• I used 0.6 for its 'brightness' and 'opacity' settings to keep things subtle. See below for the result.

I always wanted to type on a Matrix layout!     ￣(=⌒ᆺ⌒=)￣

LINKS TO TRAINING TOOLS

Here are some typing improvement tools I've used and/or found promising:

Learning

• Keybr is used by many learners and seems somewhat of a favorite. It's a rather no-nonsense letter-by-letter trainer.
• Colemak Camp is a new-and-improved, rather pleasant-looking version of ...
• ... Colemak Club. It, in turn, fixed an error (in the Colemak-DH Angle mod for row-stag boards) in the formerly popular Colemak Academy.
• Sense-Lang has Colemak lessons, but no Colemak-DH.
• Key Hero is a nice online solution. It's written by a Colemak user, records progress and focuses on realistic learning.
• The Typing Cat also seems nice. Nice kitty!     ( =^･ω･^=)丿
• On the Colemak Learn page, there's a list of several tests and trainers, if you want to browse around for more.

Training

• Monkeytype, as mentioned above, is very popular. It has quickly become my favorite typing test.
• Nonsense by Callum, is a simple-yet-good random word typer using Zipf's Law.
• NGram-Type, as mentioned above, is a simple and effective way to train common n-grams.
• Burst-Type is a well-made word burst training tool. It complements the others nicely.

• 10FastFingers has a smooth and enjoyable test with some flexibility.
• Typetest.io is another good typing test site with real-time daily and all-time leaderboards.
• TypeRacer is another classic for speed training. There's even an Instant Death mode that trains accuracy ruthlessly!

• Fast Typer 3 and its predecessor are a hoot, as you train both speed and accuracy very ... fast, indeed. Brutal but fun.
• Speed Typing Online has a fun little test in which you type text quotes and lyrics.
• Typings.gg is a sleek no-nonsense trainer. Choose how many words to type, and type them.

Type-Reading

• Amphetype with Project Gutenberg books, as described above, is excellent for "type-reading" books.
• CopyType is an alternative type-reading app for e-books, using the well-polished MonkeyType interface.
• bType is great if you want an online tool. It even supports multiple languages.
• TypeLit.io also has books for you to type in. It has a very nice feel and an interesting library.
• Actual books is a perfectly valid option too, you know! Champions Viper and Sean Wrona both copytyped books using simple text editors.

Gaming

The Typing Gaming section holds descriptions of The Typing of the Dead and other typing games. Fun, fun, fun – and useful too!

Zany for Zen?

If you're new to Colemak and didn't opt for the Tarmak experience, then maybe KeyZen-Colemak-DH could work for you? It lets you learn by simply doing in the here and now, without stress. Once you know the layout, you could just write any text into an editor in full-screen mode for mindful typing. Om, Om!   _/|\_

LINKS TO TYPING GUIDES:

• Speedtyping Guide by Colemak-wielding 220+WPM champion Viper.
• Typing tips from champion Sean Wrona. He has some interesting thoughts on avoiding chording and using flexible fingering.
  Forgive him for staying with QWERTY.     ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• Jashe's Comprehensive (Speed)Typing Guide is encyclopedic and insightful, covering in detail the aspects of typing (faster). At around 150 pages, it's a long read! Towards the end of Jashe's guide there are even more good links.
• "How to Become a Faster Typist" by John is another excellent guide, covering speed ranges from 0–30 WPM to 140+ WPM. And it's Jashe approved.
• "Everything you need to know to get from 0 to 200 WPM!" by NoThisIsJohn is a video well worth your time. He puts things well, and mentions the need for read-ahead. He covers the 0–80, 80–120 and 120–200 WPM speed ranges individually.
• Foggy's guide is said to be good, and has a quirky retro design.
• Taran's Guide to Intermediate Typing is a much better read than most of his other posts...     ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)
• The MonkeyType Discord server, for the Monkeytype typing test site described above, has a #typing-resources channel. It links to several interesting guides.

MORE LINKS:

• https://gitlab.com/franksh/amphetype (Amphetype, current edition)
• https://github.com/webiest/amphetype (the older Amphetype version 1)
• https://github.com/callum-oakley/gotta-go-fast (Gotta-Go-Fast, a more powerful offline predecessor of Callum's Nonsense app using Haskell/Stack)

These links are about making specified lists of words:

• https://gfruit.github.io/typing/words-filter.html - GFruit's Words Filter (see above)
• https://github.com/first20hours/google-10000-english – the 10k word list from Google Research
• (Use google-10000-english-no-swears for a raw text file without swear words)
• https://github.com/dwyl/english-words – a massive 479k English word list at the DoWhatYouLove ygproject
• http://www.wordfind.com/ – you can find words starting with n-grams too, like http://www.wordfind.com/starts-with/the/
• http://worddetector.com/ – words starting with "the" on http://www.morewords.com/starts-with/the/
• http://www.morewords.com/
• http://www.wordhippo.com/

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